The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Commissioners Speak Out Against Pollution Lawsuit

By John L. Moore
The Morning News

Area farmers and poultry companies got some support from an unlikely source in a federal pollution lawsuit against area poultry companies this week.

The chairman and past chairman of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission recently denounced Oklahoma's suit against the poultry companies in the Illinois River watershed.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed the lawsuit in June 2005 against 14 poultry companies for applying poultry litter to fields in the region.

The commission has battled to improve water quality in the Illinois and its sister scenic streams for years.

Bill Blackard, chairman of the commission, and Rick Stubblefield, a past chairman and current commissioner, said they believe the best way to work toward significantly reducing the amount of poultry litter spread on fields in the watershed is by negotiating with the companies as they did with the state of Arkansas in 2003.

"I'd like to see both sides sit down and settle this without going to court," Blackard said in a recent telephone interview.

Edmondson said talking about a settlement was stating the obvious.

"I don't think there is anybody in Oklahoma or Arkansas that would not prefer a negotiated settlement, but it takes two to negotiate. The day they are willing to come back to the table, they'll find me sitting there," Edmondson said Thursday.

The poultry companies refused to negotiate in good faith, Edmondson said.

"We tried for three and a half years to negotiate," he said.

In 2003, Ed Fite, administrator of the commission, joined with three other Oklahoma agencies and signed a joint statement of principal with Arkansas environmental officials on reducing phosphorus in the watershed.

The result of that agreement was $200 million in wastewater treatment plant improvement by Northwest Arkansas cities, said Rick Stubblefield, a commissioner.

The agreement also outlined a path to help reduce the amount of poultry litter spread on fields in Northwest Arkansas. Litter traditionally has been used as a fertilizer. Arkansas legislators approved three laws in 2003 to help regulate nutrients spread on fields in areas that have excessive nutrients in the soil.

For the past year, the commission has been relatively silent on the lawsuit, even though it is the front line of Oklahoma's effort to maintain water quality in the watershed.

Blackard and Stubblefield spoke out recently after attorneys for the attorney general's office requested an executive session of the commission to discuss the lawsuit.

"The Attorney General's office, to all intents and purposes ignored the existence of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission throughout the entire settlement and negotiation talks with poultry companies," Stubblefield said.

Stubblefield said the commission was never asked by Edmondson's office to provide serious input on what was needed to improve water quality in the watershed during the time Edmondson's office was negotiating.

After receiving the request, Blackard called a special session and placed the request for an executive session on the agenda. The meeting was to have occurred Thursday. But, over the past week, half the commissioners indicated they did not want an executive session, Stubblefield said.

At that point, Edmondson's office called off the meeting.

Stubblefield said the commission was willing to meet openly, with the public in attendance.

Edmondson said, "We'd be happy to talk to the (commission) under any circumstances they would like to hear us. It should be obvious to them that we would be less able to talk about the details of the suit in an open session. We are their attorneys and are the attorneys in the litigation, and we are not going to damage our litigation in that manner."

Edmondson also commented that Stubblefield represents Adair County on the commission and that Adair County has the largest number of poultry farms on Oklahoma's side of the watershed.